


Loving-Kindness

by eafay70



Category: Football RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Borussia Dortmund, Eventual Smut, F/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-03
Updated: 2017-01-26
Packaged: 2018-09-14 13:10:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9183142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eafay70/pseuds/eafay70
Summary: Neven goes to the MLS as part of Borussia Dortmund's new sister club. He befriends a young woman in the social media department whose name he can't quite pronounce. How will their friendship grow as the club struggles to gain respect in the shadow of the other football? Will Neven convince the naysayers back in Germany that this was a good idea? And to what lengths will poor Neven have to go to bring back the presents everyone at BVB requested?





	1. Saying Goodbye

**Author's Note:**

> This idea has been in my head for a very long time. I have absolutely no idea how well it will turn out, but come what may, I will finish it. Having said that, please let me know what you think!

Neven knocked on the door. “Emma? I’m here to say goodbye.”

After a pause, Nuri emerged. “She’s really upset. She doesn’t see why we need a sister club in America, or why we need to send you to help start it.”

“It’s only two years, though. I’ll be back.”

“That’s a long time for her. And she’s seen a lot of people break promises and not come back.”

Neven sighed. “Let me try to talk to her.”

Nuri ushered him in. “Emma, listen to Neven.”

The bee was sitting in a chair, holding her head in her hands and shaking with inaudible sobs. Marco was kneeling next to her and rubbing her back soothingly.

Neven spoke softly. “Emma…I want to do this. I want to give the younger guys here more chances to play. I want to play under a different system so I can be even better when I come back. I want…I want to give more Americans like Christian a chance to come here and fall in love with guys like Felix.”

Emma looked up. Marco gave Neven a thumbs-up for mentioning future Chelix possibilities.

Nuri added, “Neven has promised to bring back gifts for everyone, Emma. I’m getting a cowboy hat! What would you like?”

Emma stroked her chin in thought and turned towards Marco, who said, “Mario and I are getting matching Mickey Mouse hats from Disneyland.”

“Whatever you want, Emma,” promised Neven.

Emma held up a finger to indicate she had an idea. She picked up a nearby notebook and began to write. Once finished, she tore out the page and handed it to Neven.

“Number One: the Statue of Liberty?” Emma squished her fingers together. “A mini-Statue of Liberty – that, I can do.”

“Number Two: a tree with a bee and a question mark?” Emma sighed and pointed to a picture of herself with the other Bundesliga mascots. “The new club’s mascot? But why a tree?” Emma pretended to cradle a baby. “Oh! Your family tree! You want to meet your cousin mascot!”

“Number Three: a heart?” Emma didn’t respond. “I can’t promise to fall in love, Emma!” She shook her head and waved her hands over a nearby football, as if she were a fortuneteller with a crystal ball. “If you say I’m going to fall in love, then I guess I’m going to fall in love, and I’ll bring back the proof.”

Emma jumped up and hugged Neven, who returned the hug. “I’m going to miss you, Emma. I’ll keep in touch.”


	2. Welcome to New Jersey (NOT New York!)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neven meets some people associated with his new home - and someone who isn't a person.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It may seem awfully soon for the introduction of this character, but I couldn't help it. XD
> 
> It's been a long time since I've gone through customs, so I don't trust my recollection of it well enough to describe it. I do, however, recall the feeling of jet lag while trying to answer questions.

Neven bit the inside of his cheeks in a desperate attempt to stay awake as the customs official asked questions: how long was he staying, what was his new job, had he been in the United States before, and various other things Neven had been told to expect. He’d thought his previous years living in America would make things easier, but that didn’t seem to be the case, which Neven decided to ponder later. Finally, his passport was stamped, and he was waved through to the main arrivals area.

He had been told to look for two women in BVB-esque jackets. Sure enough, within seconds of entering the room, he saw two women in yellow jackets holding up a large yellow sign with black lettering:  
NEW JERSEY UNITED FC WELCOMES NEVEN!  
#NJUFC #HALLO_NEVEN

As he walked closer to the sign, he saw that a human-sized yellow bird was taking pictures with children and handing out fliers to adults. Before he could approach the bird, one of the women made eye contact with him and squealed with delight.

“You're here!” The woman dropped the sign and gave Neven a hug. “I'm Eileen Gilroy, the liaison to BVB.” She had a slight accent - Scottish or Irish, perhaps - which seemed to thicken as she continued to speak excitedly. “We're so happy you're here, dearie!”

“Indeed!” The other woman placed the sign at her feet and extended a hand. “I’m Tina Regen, NJUFC spokesperson.”

“And this is Harriet.” Eileen beckoned to the bird, who waved goodbye to her audience and turned to face Neven. “She’s an eastern goldfinch, which is our state bird – technically, eastern goldfinches are just American goldfinches according to zoologists, so the term eastern goldfinch shouldn’t exist, but that’s neither here nor there.”

“It’s so great to meet you, Harriet!” The bird gave Neven a big hug. “Your cousin Emma is very excited to meet you.” Harriet clapped happily and pantomimed taking a selfie. “Certainly! But my phone isn't set up for America yet.”

“Not a problem.” Tina whipped out her phone and set up the camera. “Say NJUFC!” Everyone – other than Harriet, of course – managed to say the acronym correctly, so Tina took the picture and went to work posting it on every social media platform imaginable, if her muttering was anything to go by. 

“It’s a bit of a mouthful,” Eileen admitted. “But it was important to the owners that we play in New Jersey and call ourselves New Jersey, as opposed to the Red Bulls, who follow the NFL example of playing in New Jersey but calling themselves New York. And the investors grew up in Union Beach, which was one of the towns hit by Sandy, so they threw in United, and that’s our name.”

“I see.” There was a lot Neven didn’t understand, but he figured there would be time to ask for clarification later. Right now, he had only one question: “Are we going to the hotel now? I could really use a nap after that flight.”

Harriet nodded enthusiastically and placed a wing around Neven’s shoulders, leading him out of the airport and into a bright yellow minivan with “New Jersey United FC” painted on the side. Neven fell asleep on the bird’s shoulder within seconds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback appreciated! :D  
> For anyone keeping track, Harriet isn't named for anyone in particular, but Eileen and Tina are named for two writers here on AO3. One of them knows that I've used their name, but the other doesn't. If you'd like a particular name used, let me know in the comments!  
> Also for the comments: How would you pronounce the name Chesed? I'm not giving any linguistic clues because Eileen and Tina won't have any. XD


	3. A Question of Names

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neven is told that he's going to be interviewed by one of the social media people at the club. The schedule has autocorrected her name to "chess ed." What's he supposed to call her?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Readers, I give you the love interest! =D
> 
> I imagine that not all of you know how to pronounce "Chesed." There's nothing wrong with that! Feel free to [listen to the word being said](https://youtu.be/pDQt4s63PZI?t=20s) as often as needed.

Neven woke up from his nap to see a piece of paper taped to the TV. He walked over to the TV and unfolded the paper, which read:

“Hi, Neven! Please join us for pizza in the Sinatra Ballroom at 5 tonight. Love, Harriet”

A glance at the clock on the bedside table revealed the time to be 4:45. So he headed down to the lobby, where Harriet was taking pictures with various hotel employees.

Eileen walked up to Neven with a big smile. “How’s our star feeling?”

“I can’t complain,” Neven replied. “Harriet left me a note about pizza?”

“Yes, after you do the interview! Right this way!” Eileen led Neven to the Sinatra Ballroom, which was set up for filming. “We really want a video on YouTube as soon as possible, and we knew food would get your attention. So, you and the new girl do the interview, and then we all have some of the best pizza this side of the Atlantic!”

Neven sighed to himself. As a professional athlete in the internet age, he knew that YouTube interviews were part of the job, but he wasn’t exactly a fan of giving them. Though, to be fair, it was a clever idea to promise him food afterwards. And Eileen was just too bubbly to deny.

“Let’s do it, then.” He smiled. “Who’s doing the interview?”

“It’ll be one of the new social media people.” Eileen put her tablet on a nearby desk and tapped the screen to reveal a picture of Tuchel and Klopp laughing. “I’ll pull up her name…”

“You’re a Dortmund fan through and through, I see.” Neven chuckled as Eileen scrolled through various files.

“How else do you think I got the job?” Eventually, Eileen pulled up an email with the day’s schedule. “Here we are: Sinatra at 5 PM, Neven films interview with…”

Neven arched an eyebrow. “It autocorrected to ‘chess ed’ instead of her name.”

“It does that on all our phones.” Tina entered, followed by Harriet. “Her name is C-H-E-S-E-D.”

“No idea how to pronounce it,” Eileen admitted. “I’m not much of a languages person, so I couldn’t understand what Google wanted me to say.”

“Her last name is Cabrera,” noted Tina. “So her name alliterates, which is pretty cool.”

A knock on the door interrupted the conversation. Harriet ran over to the door, opened it, and gave the person on the other side a big hug.

“No crushing the employees, Harriet!” said Eileen with a laugh. “Let Ms. Cabrera come on in!”

With a hint of reluctance, Harriet stepped to the side and waved her wings dramatically to usher in the young woman, who nodded to the bird in acknowledgement. “I wasn’t expecting such an enthusiastic welcome, Harriet. It was a pleasant surprise.”

“She’s been looking forward to your interview with Neven because she wrote some of the questions.” The Dortmund liaison held out her hand. “I’m Eileen Gilroy. I answered your email about travel requirements.”

“Ah, yes!” They quickly shook hands. “It’s nice to meet you. And I love your accent.”

“Scottish, dearie.” Eileen pointed to the woman beside her. “This is Tina Regen, NJUFC spokesperson.”

“We also emailed, I believe.” Tina shook the younger woman’s hand.

“Yes.” She smiled. “And you need no introduction.”

“I suppose not.” Neven laughed and shook her hand. “But I can’t say I’ve heard your name before, and I don’t know how to say it.”

“Chesed.” She pointed to her neck. “Make a guttural ‘ch’ sound, like the word ‘nach’ in German. Then it’s like the ‘e’ in ‘meh,’ and then it’s a soft ‘s’.”

“Chesed.” Tina said it perfectly on the first try, and Eileen got it after about five tries, but Neven couldn’t quite say it.

“At least you’re trying. A lot of people just say ‘chess’ and add a ‘d’ sound at the end.”

Harriet clapped happily and pointed to the filming area. “Oh, right!” Eileen pulled Neven into a chair, while Tina reviewed the questions with Chesed.

The interview itself was normal enough; Harriet’s questions were standard things like “favorite ice cream flavor” and “most intimidating keeper to face when taking a penalty.” And, as promised, they all ate pizza afterwards. Neven returned to his room content with everything – other than how to pronounce Chesed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do let me know if the name needs further clarification! I'm also curious if anyone's devices come up with a funnier autocorrection for "Chesed" than "chess ed." XD


End file.
